A place to come to see what's new at Heritage Spinning & Weaving – Lake Orion, MI

It’s that time of year – my much awaited annual sabbatical. That means I come to Insel Haus (www.inselhausbandb.com) and be a slave to the computer and stacks of projects for 10 days. Doesn’t sound like it would be much fun, but it is very, very satisfying. From early morning until late in the night (with breaks for a walk and a nap) you can find me writing, designing, knitting or weaving. This trip Sharlene came up with me. She’s working with Christa on some of her patterns.

Yesterday it was confirmed that I will be teaching at SOAR (http://www.interweave.com/spin/events_exhibits.asp) for the entire week in October. A three day class called Spinning for Weaving: An Introduction to the Rigid Heddle and then 4 different presentations of Making Your Wheel Do the Work. Needless to say, this is very exciting for me. It has been a goal to teach at SOAR since attending my first one in 2000. That meant that today I spent the better part of the day developing curriculum.

And, new stuff at the shop: the Tofutsie yarn arrived! It has a totally unique fiber content: 50% Superwash Wool/25% SOYSILK Brand Fiber/22.5% Cotton/2.5% Chitin (made from shrimp and crab shells!). See the colors at http://soysilk.com/. In the meantime, I should remind you that sock yarn isn’t just for feet anymore! Use it to make hats, scarves, baby clothes (it’s machine washable), sweaters and more. Find it too thin? Double it up and it knits up at DK weight – 20 to 22 sts in four inches.

The sunset in the clouds was taken yesterday afternoon looking out over the Straits of Mackinac. Isn’t it stunning?